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TMI Blog2021 (1) TMI 960X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... come Tax (Appeals) erred in upholding view of the then Assessing Officer in restricting the exemption of reinvestment of capital gain to one residential house property by taking view of phrase "a residential property" in Section 54(1) of Income Tax Act, 1961 as only one house property ignoring the explanations and submissions made before him. 2) Under the facts and circumstances of the case and in law, the Learned Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) erred in upholding view of the then Assessing Officer in disallowing the part exemption of Rs. 60,85,931/- out of total exemption of Rs. 1,50,14,111/- claimed by Assessee u/s 54 of the Act on his own notions, surmises and conjunctures, ignoring the explanations and submissions made before hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... made by way of purchase / construction of 'a residential house property' within specified time period. The Finance Act, 2014 substituted the expression 'a residential house property' with the words 'one residential house' with effect from 01/04/2015. The rationale of the amendment, as explained in clause 20.3 of the explanatory notes to the Finance Bill was as follows: - 20.3. Certain courts had interpreted that the exemption is also available if investment is made in more than one residential house. The benefit was intended for investment in one residential house within India. Accordingly, sub-section (1) of Section 54 of the Income-tax Act has been amended to provide that the rollover relief under the said section is available if the i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Assessee should be held entitled to the benefit of deduction u/s 54 of the Act, subject to the purchase or construction being within the stipulated time limit in respect of the plural number of residential houses also. It was also held that the amendment made by The Finance Act, 2014 was intended to be specifically applied only prospectively with effect from AY 2015-16 since it took note of the judicial precedents for period prior to 01/04/2015. At the same time the decision of Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court in Pawan Arya V/s CIT [11 Taxmann.com 312] was distinguished since no opinion, in detail, was expressed in the judgment. 4.3 The Hon'ble Karnataka High Court in Khoobchand M. Makhija [43 Taxmann.com 143] considering the decision o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ictionaries. (Principles of Statutory Interpretation by Justice G.P.Singh - pages 279 and 280). It is in this background, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word 'a' in the context in which it is used in the said Section. 10. The words "a" or "an" and "the" are called Articles. They come before nouns. There are two Articles - a (or an) and the "a" or "an" is called the Indefinite Article, because it usually leaves indefinite the person or thing spoken of. "The" is called the Definite Article, because it normally points out some particular person or thing. The indefinite article is used before singular countable nouns. The definite article is used before singular countable nouns, plural countable nouns and uncountabl ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t is necessary to have a careful look at Section 54 of the Income Tax Act, which reads as under: "54. Profit on sale of property used for residence - (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), where, in the case of an assesses being an individual or a Hindu undivided family, the capital gain arises from the transfer of a long-term capital asset, being buildings or lands appurtenant thereto, and being a residential house, the income of winch is chargeable under the head 'Income from house property' (hereafter in this section referred to as the original asset), and the assesses has within a period of one year before or two years after the date on which the transfer took place purchased, or has within a period of three years ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or lands appurtenant thereto. It cannot be construed as one residential house. In this context, it is useful to refer- to Section 13 of the General Clauses Act, 1897, which reads as under: "13. Gender and number. - In all Central Acts and Regulations, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context - (i) words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females; and (ii) words in the singular shall include the plural, and vice versa." The context in which the expression "a residential house" is used in Section 54 makes it clear that, it was not the intention of the legislation to convey the meaning that it refers to a single residential house. If that was the intention, they would have used the word "on ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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